please help..babies being killed..

[fawnvb]

I have 4 Cayuga ducks, 2 male and 2 female. Needless to say, we have had three successful hatchings. Sadly only the first one is alive. It hatched 3 days ago. The second one hatched the 2 days ago but my daughter found it in the community water bowl, its stomach torn open. We thought it was the big male Goliath that did it since he seems to be a little ticked off about the babies. So we closed up the mother in her nesting box and the remaining duckling is doing well. Today I went out to check on them and found a newly hatched baby right in front of the mama but its stomach was torn. So maybe its the mama doing it? If so why? Shes a very docile duck and seems to be taking care of the first hatched. Any Suggestions?

 

[Amiga]

Either take the eggs and finish incubating them, watch closely and take them in to brood, or get a game camera to see what is happening. Ducks do unexplainable things.

 

[fawnvb]

Thanks...
Sadly when I went out tonight to check on everyone, the mama was in the process of tearing apart an egg, luckily it wasn't fully formed yet. She then went after the duckling so I took her out of the nesting box . The remaining eggs are on the verge of hatching..one is actually rocking back n forth. Poor duckling is running around scared but seems to be calming down some.

 

[allison finch]

Time to cull that duck, IMO. It will probably never stop this behavior.

 

[fawnvb]

What causes this? I mean she was very docile she was moving the eggs around and making sure they were all covered.... she was letting the baby climb all over her and sleep on top of her. She wouldn't leave the nest at all for almost two weeks or so. Maybe she went stir crazy . I wish I knew. She went swimming tonight for the first time since she started sitting. When she came in she just stood in the nesting box and preened. I'll probably keep an eye on her just to make sure she is going to be ok. We put the remaining eggs in my bathroom with a heating pad and a small heater. A couple of them are actually moving back and forth some.. I guess they will be hatching soon.

 

[BarredRockGirls]

omgosh im sorry thats horrible . good luck to the lil ones surrviving

 

[shicks0211]

aw..poor duckies. is it the mothers first try? some ducks just aren't good mothers..and they don't know what they're supposed to do..i'd just hatch the babies and raise them separate from the others until they feather and can fend for themselves better.